TechInAsia close to securing US$6M in new funding round: Report

TiA was also looking to sell the company but could not find a right match

Singapore-based tech startup news portal TechInAsia (TiA) is close to raising US$6 million in new financing round, says a TechCrunch report citing sources.

TiA, with offices in Singapore, Jakarta, Tokyo, and India, was also looking to sell the company but could not find a right match. Eventually, it decided to seek a new investment round, the report added.

When contacted by e27, Terence Lee, Managing Editor at TiA, declined to comment.

The report comes in the midst of a massive lay-off at its Indian unit. TiA, which expanded to India in 2015 by opening an office in Bangalore, laid off around five employees, mostly editorial, a few days ago. The company, with nearly 100 employees across Southeast Asia, also cancelled plans to bring its events to India as it doesn’t think that will “be sustainable on a unit economics basis.”

TiA was founded in 2011 as a news portal with a focus on tech startups in Southeast Asia. The company has received multiple rounds of funding since launch. In June 2015, it secured US$4 million, led by SB ISAT Fund, with participation from Facebook Co-founder and Singapore resident Eduardo Saverin, Walden International, Marvelstone, m&s Partners, and Andrew James Solimine, Co-founder of Nitrous. Existing investors East Ventures, Fenox Venture Capital and Simile Venture Partners had also participated.

Previously, the portal received an undisclosed sum in funding led by Fenox Venture Capital in 2013. In September that year, it acquired Singapore-based tech blog SGEntrepreneurs.